Achilles - Ancient History - HISTORY.com Google Achilles: Early Life Like most mythological heroes, Achilles had a complicated family tree. His father was Peleus, the mortal king of the Myrmidons–a people who, according to legend, were extraordinarily fearless and skilled soldiers. His mother was Thetis, a Nereid. Did You Know? Today, we use the phrase “Achilles heel” to describe a powerful person’s fatal weakness. According to myths and stories composed long after the Iliad, Thetis was extraordinarily concerned about her baby son’s mortality. She did everything she could to make him immortal: She burned him over a fire every night, then dressed his wounds with ambrosial ointment; and she dunked him into the River Styx, whose waters were said to confer the invulnerability of the gods. However, she gripped him tightly by the foot as she dipped him into the river–so tightly that the water never touched his heel. As a result, Achilles was invulnerable everywhere but there. When he was 9 years old, a seer predicted that Achilles would die heroically in battle against the Trojans.

When she heard about this, Thetis disguised him as a girl and sent him to live on the Aegean island of Skyros. To be a great warrior was Achilles’ fate, however, and he soon left Skyros and joined the Greek army. In a last-ditch effort to save her son’s life, Thetis asked the divine blacksmith Hephaestus to make a sword and shield that would keep him safe. The armor that Hephaestus produced for Achilles did not make him immortal, but it was distinctive enough to be recognized by friend and foe alike. When Homer wrote the Iliad in about 720 BCE, however, readers and listeners would not have known any of this. They only knew that Achilles was a great hero, that he had superhuman strength and courage and that he was supremely handsome. Homer painted a more nuanced picture: In addition to these qualities, his Achilles was vengeful and quick to anger and could be petulant when he did not get his way. He was also deeply loyal and would sacrifice anything for his friends and family.

Achilles: The Trojan War According to legend, the Trojan War began when the god-king Zeus decided to reduce Earth’s mortal population by arranging a war between the Greeks (Homer calls them the Achaeans) and the Trojans. He did this by meddling in their political and emotional affairs. At Achilles’ parents’ wedding banquet, Zeus invited the prince of Troy, a young man named Paris, to judge a beauty contest between the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Each of the goddesses offered Paris a bribe in exchange for his vote. Aphrodite’s was the most alluring: She promised to give the young prince the most beautiful wife in the world. Unfortunately, the wife in question–Helen, the daughter of Zeus–was already married to someone else: Menelaus, the king of Sparta . At Aphrodite’s urging, Paris went to Sparta, won Helen’s heart and took her (along with all of Menelaus’ money) back to Troy. Menelaus vowed revenge. He assembled an army of Greece’s greatest warriors, including Achilles and his Myrmidons, and set off to conquer Troy and get his wife back.

In Homer’s telling, this war lasted for 10 bloody years. Achilles: The Illiad When the Iliad begins, the Trojan War has been going on for nine years. Achilles, the poem’s protagonist, has led one battle after another. He has met with great success–in fact, he is undefeated in battle–but the war itself has reached a stalemate. Homer’s story focuses on a different conflict, however: the internecine quarrel between his hero and Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaean armies and Menelaus’ brother. In a battle that took place before the poem begins, Agamemnon had taken as a concubine a young Trojan woman named Chryseis. Chryseis’ father, a priest of the god Apollo, tried to buy his daughter’s freedom, but Agamemnon mocked his entreaties and refused to release the girl. Enraged, Apollo punished the Greek armies by sending a plague to kill the soldiers one by one. As his ranks thinned, Agamemnon finally agreed to allow Chryseis to return to her father.

However, he demanded a replacement concubine in exchange: Achilles’ wife, the Trojan princess Breseis. Achilles did as his commander asked and relinquished his bride. Then, he announced that he would no longer fight on Agamemnon’s behalf. He gathered his belongings, including the armor Hephaestus had made, and refused to come out of his tent. With the Greeks’ greatest warrior off the battlefield, the tide began to turn in favor of the Trojans. The Greeks lost one battle after another. Eventually, Achilles’ best friend, the soldier Patroclus, was able to wrangle a compromise: Achilles would not fight, but he would let Patroclus use his powerful armor as a disguise. That way, the Trojans would think that Achilles had returned to battle and would retreat in fear. The plan was working until Apollo, still seething about Agamemnon’s treatment of Chryseis and her father, intervened on the Trojans’ behalf. He helped the Trojan prince Hector to find and kill Patroclus. Furious, Achilles vowed to take revenge. He chased Hector back to Troy, slaughtering Trojans all the way.

When they got to the city walls, Hector tried to reason with his pursuer, but Achilles was not interested. He stabbed Hector in the throat, killing him. Hector had begged for an honorable burial in Troy, but Achilles was determined to humiliate his enemy even in death. He dragged Hector’s body behind his chariot all the way back to the Achaean camp and tossed it on the garbage heap. However, in the poem’s last section Achilles finally relents: He returns Hector’s body to his father for a proper burial. Achilles: The Fate of Achilles In his Iliad, Homer does not explain what happened to Achilles. According to later legends (and bits and pieces of Homer’s own Odyssey), the warrior returned to Troy after Hector’s funeral to exact further revenge for Patroclus’ death. However, the still-vengeful Apollo told Hector’s brother Paris that Achilles was coming. Paris, who was not a brave warrior, ambushed Achilles as he entered Troy. He shot his unsuspecting enemy with an arrow, which Apollo guided to the one place he knew Achilles was vulnerable: his heel, where his mother’s hand had kept the waters of the Styx from touching his skin.

Achilles died on the spot, still undefeated in battle. Tags Achilles Achilles See More Achilles Pictures > Achilles was a hero in Greek mythology and one of the main characters that participated in the Trojan War . He was also the protagonist of Homer’s epic, the Iliad. He was the son of Peleus , king of the Myrmidons, and Thetis , a nymph. Both Zeus and Poseidon were in love with Thetis , however Prometheus warned them of a prophecy that said the son of Thetis would be greater than his father; so, the two gods decided to withdraw, and Peleus ended up marrying her. When Achilles was born, his mother wanted to make him immortal and thus, dipped him in the river Styx . However, she did not realise that his heel, by which she held him, was not touched by the waters, and so that was the only part of his body that remained mortal. According to another version, Thetis covered Achilles ’ body in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire to burn away his mortality; however, she was enraged because she was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned them.

When the Trojan War started, Achilles commanded 50 ships, each having 50 Myrmidons. He also appointed five commanders; Menesthius, Eudorus, Peisander, Phoenix and Alcimedon. After departing, they landed in Mysia by mistake, which was then ruled by Telephus . Telephus was wounded in the battle by Achilles , and could not be healed. After consulting an oracle, he was told that he who inflicted the wound would be able to heal it; so, Telephus asked Achilles to heal him, and in return he guided them to Troy . The Iliad starts the narrative of the Trojan War with Agamemnon , leader of the Achaeans , having acquired a woman called Chryseis as his slave. Her father, being a priest of Apollo , begs the god to help him, and Apollo sends a plague among the Greeks. Calchas identifies the source of the problem and Agamemnon reluctantly consents; however, he demands that Achilles hand over his own prize, another woman called Briseis.

Achilles , furious that he was dishonoured in such a way, withdraws from battle and asks his mother to convince Zeus to help the Trojans, so that he may prove himself again in the battlefield. The Trojans manage to repel the Greeks back to the shore; Patroclus , Achilles ’ friend, wearing Achilles ’ armor, successfully leads the Myrmidons against the enemy, but is subsequently killed by Hector , the Trojan prince. Enraged by his friend’s death, Achilles joins the battle and tracks down Hector , whom he kills in a face to face duel. He then drags Hector ’s lifeless body with his chariot during the funeral games he held for Patroclus . The death of Achilles is not narrated in the Iliad, although it was predicted by Hector with his dying breath. Paris , the brother of Hector , managed to kill the hero with an arrow that landed on Achilles ’ heel, the only vulnerable part of his body. The arrow was poisoned and some sources say that it was guided by the god Apollo . Achilles was cremated and his ashes were mingled with those of Patroclus . Achilles Is also called Achilleas, Achilleus.

Achilles | Greek mythology | Britannica.com Greek mythology hero Achilles, in Greek mythology , son of the mortal Peleus , king of the Myrmidons , and the Nereid , or sea nymph , Thetis . Achilles was the bravest, handsomest, and greatest warrior of the army of Agamemnon in the Trojan War . According to Homer , Achilles was brought up by his mother at Phthia with his cousin and inseparable companion Patroclus . One of the non-Homeric tales of his childhood relates that Thetis dipped Achilles in the waters of the River Styx , by which means he became invulnerable, except for the part of his heel by which she held him—the proverbial “Achilles’ heel.” Amphora with Ajax and Achilles playing a board game, painted by Exekias, c.

550–540 … © DeA Picture Library The later mythographers related that Peleus, having received an oracle that his son would die fighting at Troy, sent Achilles to the court of Lycomedes on Scyros, where he was dressed as a girl and kept among the king’s daughters (one of whom, Deïdamia, bore him Neoptolemus ). Hearing from the soothsayer Calchas that Troy could not be taken without Achilles, the Greeks searched for and found him. Thetis immersing her son, Achilles, in the River Styx by Antoine Borel, 18th century; in the … The Art Archive/SuperStock During the first nine years of the war, Achilles ravaged the country around Troy and took 12 cities. In the 10th year a quarrel with Agamemnon occurred when Achilles insisted that Agamemnon restore Chryseis, his prize of war, to her father, a priest of Apollo , so as to appease the wrath of Apollo, who had decimated the camp with a pestilence.

An irate Agamemnon recouped his loss by depriving Achilles of his favourite slave, Briseis. Achilles refused further service, and consequently the Greeks floundered so badly that at last Achilles allowed Patroclus to impersonate him, lending him his chariot and armour. Hector (the eldest son of King Priam of Troy) slew Patroclus, and Achilles, having finally reconciled with Agamemnon, obtained new armour from the god Hephaestus and slew Hector. After dragging Hector’s body behind his chariot, Achilles gave it to Priam at his earnest entreaty. The Iliad concludes with the funeral rites of Hector. It makes no mention of the death of Achilles, though the Odyssey mentions his funeral. The poet Arctinus in his Aethiopis took up the story of the Iliad and related that Achilles, having slain the Ethiopian king Memnon and the Amazon Penthesilea , was himself slain in battle by Priam’s son Paris , whose arrow was guided by Apollo.

Achilles slaying Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, Attic black-figure amphora signed by … Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum Learn More in these related articles: Achilles - Ancient History Encyclopedia Achilles by Mark Cartwright published on 29 September 2012 Leader of the fearsome Myrmidons, sacker of cities , and slayer of Hektor, godlike Achilles was quite simply invincible in battle , and only the divine intervention of Apollo finally put an end to his long reign as the greatest Greek warrior of them all. The bravest, strongest, and even the best-looking hero of the all-star Greek army that went to Troy to recapture Helen , Achilles was also rather too proud and bad-tempered for his own good and his reckless rage would cost both his countrymen and the enemy dear. Early Life In Greek mythology , Achilles was born to Peleus and Thetis the Nereid. His mother, in order to make her son immortal, held him over a divine fire or in some accounts, the River Styx.

However, the infant was suspended by his heel and so this part of his body remained mortal flesh and ultimately, this weakness would lead to Achilles’ downfall. Thetis, knowing that her son was fated to a glorious but short life, sought to hide Achilles away from the world, and so the boy was raised on Skyros with the royal family of Lykomedes, even in some accounts disguised as a girl. Some accounts also credit the hero’s education to Chiron, the wise centaur who also included Hercules in his roll of pupils. The Trojan War By far the richest source of our knowledge concerning Achilles’ escapades is Homer ’s account of the Trojan War in the Iliad. Indeed, one may reasonably argue that Achilles is the star of the piece, and Homer himself describes his story as a tale of the rage of Achilles. Early on in the book, Odysseus , the wily king of Ithaca, is sent on a mission to find Achilles and persuade him to participate in the coming war between Greeks and Trojans. Odysseus was a formidable negotiator, and with Achilles’ thirst for glory, the embassy was successful and Achilles, leaving behind his son Neoptolemus, sailed for Troy.

With him went 50 fast ships, each carrying 50 men of his own private army, the Myrmidons - fearsome fighters who had been transformed from ants by Zeus himself and given to his son Aiakos, King of Aegina and father of Peleus. The Achaean siege of Troy lasted for ten years and during this time, Achilles excelled in battle and sacked no less than 23 cities in the surrounding area. Early on in the conflict, the hero also ambushed the Trojan prince Troilos as he drank at a spring and sacrificed him in honour of Apollo. This was fortuitous for the Greeks, as an oracle had decreed that if the prince were killed before he reached 20 years of age, then Troy would fall. In some accounts the murder of Troilos occurred at a sanctuary of Apollo, and this may explain the archer god’s fateful grudge against Achilles. Things, then, were looking pretty good for the Greeks at this point, but their fortunes changed dramatically for the worse when Agamemnon , King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek forces, fell out with his greatest warrior and Achilles withdrew from the conflict.

The quarrel started after Achilles had abducted two beauties in one of his raids - Breseis and Chryseis. Keeping the former for himself, he gave Chryseis to Agamemnon. However, Chyryseis’ father Chryses offered a tempting ransom for the girl’s safe return. Agamemnon refused and perhaps because the girl had been a priestess of Apollo, the god was displeased with the decision and sent a plague to wreak havoc amongst the Achaean camp. Agamemnon eventually relinquished his prize, but to console himself at his loss, promptly took Breseis from Achilles. Miffed at this sleight and claiming he was dishonoured before all of his compatriots, Achilles and his Myrmidons stormed off to their camp to sit out the rest of the war. Advertisement Achilles the man-breaker, decked out in his divine armour was mad with rage. Without their talismanic warrior, the Achaeans' fortunes waned and the Trojans took confidence from Achilles’ absence, even reaching dangerously close to the walls of the Achaean camp in their attacks and managing to start a fire amongst the Greek ships.

Agamemnon offered fabulous gifts and the return of Breseis but to no avail, and in this hour of great danger, even Achilles’ great friend Patroklos pleaded with the hero to re-enter the fray or at least allow him to lead out the Myrmidons in battle. Achilles agreed to the latter, and giving Patroklos his armour, made his friend promise only to engage in defensive action and not pursue the Trojans back to Troy. When the Trojans saw the armoured Patroklos, they thought that Achilles had re-entered proceedings and a panic ensued. Patroklos, flushed with success, ignored his leader’s advice and chased after the fleeing Trojans, even killing the Lycian Sarpedon, a son of Zeus, and reached the walls of Troy. Unfortunately for the young warrior, Apollo, protector of the Trojans, decided at that moment to intervene, and he struck the helmet and armour from his body and guided the spear of Euphorbos to strike him in the back. Patroklos was only wounded by the blow but Hektor, the Trojan prince, was at hand to deliver the final, fatal blow.

A long battle then followed over possession of the body, with the Achaeans, led by Menelaos and Ajax, finally managing to take the fallen Patroklos back to their camp. The Rage of Achilles When Achilles discovered the tragedy he was mad with rage; now he would fight and take terrible revenge for the death of his friend. He immediately asked his mother Thetis to provide new armour and she enlisted Hephaistos , the god of metallurgy, to forge for the hero the most magnificent armour ever made. Homer describes the armour in great detail; the gleaming shield depicted all manner of scenes in gold , silver, and enamel, the greaves were of shining tin, and the helmet had a crest of gold. Achilles the man-breaker, decked out in his divine armour and still livid with rage, took to the battlefield once more and routed the enemy left, right, and centre, sending a long line of Trojan heroes down to Hades . He then went after Hektor, and although Apollo tried three times to protect the prince in clouds of mist, the two finally met in single combat outside the walls of Troy.

Hektor, although a great warrior himself, was no match for Achilles, who swiftly dispatched the Trojan, and by tying him to his chariot , dragged the corpse in front of the walls of the city in full-view of his grieving family and then back to the Achaean camp, a sacrilegious act, breaking all etiquette of ancient warfare . Achilles, hero of the Trojan war - Greek Gods, Mythology of Ancient Greece Achilles Achilles (Akhilleus) Achilles was a Greek hero of great power and skill in hand to hand combat. He was also credited being a master of weaponry, particularly with swords and spears. Achilles was a son of goddess Thetis who tried to make him immortal by dipping him into river Styx or, according to other sources, by burning out his mortality. His destiny was to become the greatest hero of Trojan war, but also to die there. He was really a great warrior and his moves in combat seemed supernatural. Because of that, he influenced and inspired the rest of his fellow Greek warriors. Olympian god Hephaestus made him a complete armour, a shield and a spear on his mother`s request.

His divine armour included greaves, helm, body armour and gauntlets which have only enhanced his supposed immortality. Appearance in the works of art He is usually depicted as a grown man wearing his divine armour, holding a shield and a spear. There are also quite few art works of his childhood, such as training with Chiron, the famous centaur, and him being dipped into river Styx by his mother Thetis. Life before the war Achilles was a son of nymph Thetis, a daughter of sea-god Nereus, and Peleus, a king of Myrmidons. Thetis was courted by Zeus and Poseidon before she finally became a consort of Peleus. The reason for the gods withdrawing from their pursuit of the goddess was the prophecy of Prometheus who claimed that the child will hold a destiny to be more powerful than his father. When Achilles was born, Thetis brought him to the river Styx which separated the land of the living and the land of the dead. It was believed that everything it touched the river became invulnerable. She wanted to make him immortal and therefore she had sunk him into the river, but made one mistake.

When she was bathing him in the river, she was holding him by his left ankle which was left dry and, because of it, unprotected. When he was reaching boyhood, he was sent by his father Peleus to Mount Pelion to be taught by centaur Chiron who taught him all about surviving, hunting and warfare. When still at his young age, seer Calchas prophesied that the Greeks would not be able to conquer the city of Troy without the help of Achilles and if he joined the war, he would die. Because of this prophecy, his mother Thetis had no choice, in her mind, but to protect her son from ever entering the lands of Troy and, consequently, early death. Therefore, she sent him to Scyros where he was hidden away and disguised as a girl. But his cover was soon blown by Odysseus who placed an armour and weapons among girly things. It turned out that Achilles was the only one interested in armour and weapons and not at all interested in girls clothing. With his cover blown, Achilles agreed to travel to Troy with Odysseus and lead an army of his father's people, the Myrmidons, into battle.

Trojan war Upon his arrival to Trojan lands, Achilles has quickly proven himself in battle. Together, the Greeks easily overcame many towns. In one town in particular, the story gets a twist. At the town of Lyrnessos, he took the woman called Briseis as his personal reward. He quickly fell under her charms and showed a certain lack of interest in the battle. To make the things even worse, king Agamemnon took Briseis from Achilles upon losing his price Chryseis to Apollo when the god demanded from the king to return his beloved priestess. Achilles was furious and refused to fight and, because of it, the war turned in Trojan favour. The Greeks unsuccessfully begged him to return to battle but his best friend Patroclus thought that he has found a solution. He knew that he won`t be able to convince him and the troops morale was already on the edge. Therefore, he asked Achilles to borrow him his armour, in order for him to raise the morale of the Greeks in a disguise, pretending to be Achilles, and led them into victorious battle. However, Patroclus was killed the very next day by Hector who thought that he had slain Achilles and took the body with armour still on.

When Achilles found out about this he became filled with rage and returned to battle in his new armour, made by Hephaestus. He revenged his friend by killing Hector but, still being furious, he tainted his glorious victory by unhonorably dragging Hector`s body behind his chariot in front of the gates of Troy for everyone to see. Achilles refused to give the body to Trojans and allow them to have a proper funeral. Instead, he took the body to his camp and placed it on a stick as a display of his fury. That night Priam, a king of Troy, secretly sneaked into the camp and begged him to give back the remains of their hero. Achilles finally felt pity and showed respect by agreeing to return the body. Death of Achilles The war went on and Achilles had slain many opponents including Memnon and the amazon warrior Penthesilea. He continued to fight bravely until Paris, a prince of Troy, guided by Apollo himself, wounded him with an arrow to his heel. The wound seemed to be critical because Achilles died from it. After his death, Odysseus got his divine armour after winning in a competition with Ajax.

greek-gods.org (c) Copyright 2013 - 2016, all rights reserved Achilles, Greece, Greek mythology Greek Mythology Zeus Achilles Achilles was a half-divine hero, being the son of the sea nymph Thetis and king Peleus of Thessaly. He was educated by the wise centaur Cheiron and was described as extremely handsome but also very emotional. He was almost immortal since his mother had dipped him into the river Styx as a baby. Holding the child by its heel when putting it in the water, Thetis made Achilles' whole body except the heel immortal. He had a son,Neoptolemus, with the Skyrian princess Deidameia, who met her when he was hidden in the Palace of the king Likomidis on the island on Skyros. When the war against Troy was ignited by the kidnapping of Helen, Thetis learnt by an oracle that her son would not come back alive if he joined Agamemnon.

The oracle had said that he would either die young and glorious, or reach old age in obscurity.Thetis then send Achilles to Skyros to the king Likomidis and disguise himself as a woman, thus becoming the first known cross-dresser, but unfortunately he was revealed by Odysseus and forced to join the army against Troy. Odysseus managed to reveal Achilles true identity by dressing as a merchant, then filling a cart with weapons, clothing and perfumes. While the women ran to see the clothes and perfumes, Achilles ran to he weapons. According to another version, Odysseus blew a horn, which made all the women flee except Achilles. Achilles led a fleet of 50 ships with an army of warriors called the Myrmidons . When they arrived in Troy, they also conquered 12 cities by the sea and 11 on land. Achilles killed the queen of the Amazons , Penthelisea, but just as she died their eyes met and they both fell desperately in love. After an argument with king Agamemnon , who had taken Briseis , a beautiful hostage, from Achilles - the hero was so upset that he pulled out of the war.

His abcense from the battle field gave courage to the Trojans, who no longer having to face Achilles, began to gain ground and cause a lot of suffering to the Greeks. In Vain Agamemnon and other Greeks begged him to take part in the battle and they sent gifts and slaves to persuade him to back his decision. But the entreaties from Agamemnon and the other Greeks were all in vain. Eventually only the entreaties of his closest friend Patroclus made him him retreat and gave him his great armor that it was made by the god Hephaestus. to fool the Trojans, that supposedly was Achilles who took part in the battle. Hector but he understood and the battle that followed killed Patroclus and took its armor. Patroclus managed to trick the Trojans, who thought he was Achilles who took part in the battle. But Hector understood that he was not Achilles and during the battle that followed he killed him and took his armor. Patroclus was his best friend and when he was killed by the Trojan hero Hector Achilles was totally mortified. Homer describes how Achilles cut off his hair in mourning and lit the funeral pyre.

As a revenge, Achilles killed Hector, dragged the body around the city. This fact and the disrespect towards the dead Hector angered the god Apollo who helped the Trojan prince Paris , Helen's kidnapper with Aphrodite's help, to shot an arrow into Achilles only weak spot: his heel. Thetis and the Nine Muses attended Achilles funeral. In the underworld Achilles remained a leader, but it was not a happy existence. According to another version, the hero was taken to Elysium by his mother, where he married Helen or Medea. Yet another myth tells us that his shadow asked Polyxene to be present at his funeral. She was a Trojan princess who, despite him killing her brother, had fallen in love with Achilles. Polyxene went willingly to the funeral pyre, where the Greeks killed her. Brief history of the Iliad Nine years are supposed to have elapsed in desultory warfare, and the opening line of the poem, Sing, heavenly muse, the wrath of Peleus son, introduces Achilles, who has quarrelled with Agamemnon about a captive woman appropriated by the latter. This has angered Apollo, and a pestilence is raging in the Greek camp.

Agamemnon consents to restore his captive to her father, but insists that Achilles shall give up a woman named Briseis whom he has carried off. Achilles complies, but appeals to his goddessmother, Thetis, who counsels him to nurse his wrath, and withdraw from the siege, whilst she intercedes with Jupiter. The king of the gods, however, has gone to a festival of twelve days duration with the Ethiopians, and, when Thetis obtains an audience, he tells her that he dreads the taunts of his wife Hera, but pledges his promise to humiliate the Greeks. Hera, however, has witnessed the interview, and a connubial dialogue ensues, in which she is silenced by the Thunderer. Hephaestus soothes his mother with nectar, and hands the cup round, whilst the gods and goddesses make fun of his hobbling gait. Zeus sends a vision of Nestor to Agamemnon, urging him to storm the city. The king of men assembles his council, and, to test the temper of the army, proposes, before leading them to the assault, that they shall embark at once for home.

They take him at his word and commence launching the galleys but Hera intervenes by sending Athens to bid Ulysses check their flight. He borrows the kings sceptre and awes the crowd. Thersites alone raises his voice in defiance upon which Ulysses chastises him, and the Greeks laugh heartily as he writhes and howls. They are then addressed. by Ulysses and Nestor, and Agamemnon concludes the debate by a call to immediate battle. But first the troops are well fed, whilst Agamemnon gives a banquet to six of the chieftains, at which Menelaus is present. The king stands by the burntoffering, to which no omen is vouchsafed. Nevertheless, the army is set in array, and a long musterroll follows of the Greek clans on the one side, and of the Trojans and their allies on the other. The battle begins the Trojans move forward with shouts and clashing weapons, the Greeks in silence. Godlike in his beauty, Paris advances alone from the Trojan ranks,. and challenges the leaders of the Greeks to single combat.

Menelaus springs from his chariot, exulting at the opportunity of gratifying his vengeance. But Paris starts back from the man he has wronged, and encounters Hector, who checks his retreat, ashamed at his cowardice, and Paris is induced by his brothers rebuke to accept the answer to his challenge. Helen is writing her own history when she is warned by the goddess Iris of the impending duel, and goes to the palace, where old King, Priam is sitting at the gate. Her beauty enchants every beholder, and all say it is no blame to fight for such. a woman, the spells of Venus are irresistible. She takes her place beside the king, and is pointing out to him the chiefs she is able to recognise, when he is summoned away to ratify the armistice. Then the lists are measured and the combat takes place. Menelaus has seized Paris by his crest, when Venus breaks the strap and he is left with the empty helmet in his hand, the goddess wrapping Paris in a mist and transporting him to Helens chamber. Her first exclamation is, Back from the battle ! Would thou there hadst died ! but his misadventure is soon condoned.

Jupiter now suggests that Helen be given up, and the fate of Troy averted but Hera is furious, and he consents to leave the city to her will. She accordingly sends Athens to incite the Trojans to break the truce by tempting Pandarus to aim at Menelaus. The goddess, however, turns the arrow aside. As when a mother from her infants cheek, wrapt in sweet slumbers, brushes off a fly. Nevertheless it has drawn blood, and Agamemnon fears his brother is mortally injured. Machaon, however, staunches the wound, and the Greek leaders being roused to avenge the treachery, their forces are marshalled, and Nestor counsels the dispositions of the line of battle, the plan of which is followed to the present day. Again the two armies encounter each other, like two winter torrents mingling in a deep ravine. Then follows a series of single combats between warriors of note on either side, Athens cheering on the Greeks, and Apollo the Trojans.

The gallant Diomed is hit by Pandarus, but the goddess heals the wound, and, returning to the contest, he kills his foe, and crushes the hipjoint of 1Eneas, who is screened from further harm by Venus. Diomed, however, wounds her in the palm, and she mounts to Olympus bewailing the injury she has suffered from a mortal. Her mother Dione consoles her by narrating how other deities have had to endure wrongs from men, whilst Apollo carries 1Eneas to be tended by Latona and Diana. Mars now calls Hector to the rescue, and Aeneas returns cured. The Greek line is giving way, when Hera and Athens alight on the battle plain.

The queen of the gods in form of Stentor of the brazen voice, reproaches the Greeks with cowardice, whilst Athens, taunting Diomed with his inferiority to his father Tydeus, who, though small in stature, was every inch a soldier, mounts his chariot against Mars, and the gods ichor being made to flow from a wound inflicted by Diomedes spear, he cries out with a shout like ten thousand men, and flies to Zeus who rates him soundly, but bids Poeon heal Mm, and Hebe prepares him a bath. The fight continues, and Diomedes encounters Glaucus, who, in answer to his inquiry, replies, Brave son of Tydeus. Glaucus, however, proceeds to announce himself as the grandson of Bellerophon, who rode Pegasus, and slew Chimmera, and Diomed remembers that his grandfather was Bellerophons guest. So, instead of fighting, they exchange armour in token of amity. The Trojans being hard pressed, Hector sends his mother, Hecuba, to offer prayers to Athena and finding Paris in the palace with Helen, upbraids him sharply.

Hector passes on to see his wife Andromache and their child. She is not in the palace, but at the Scan gate, eagerly watching the battle. Clinging to her husband, she entreats him not to be too prodigal of his life, for she is the last of her race , but, she adds, "While my Hector still survives, I see my father, mother, brethren all in thee". He attempts to soothe her, but, with a foreboding of his fate, he says, spies who force from him the information they desire, and behead him, after which they make their way to the Thracian camp, assassinate the king and twelve of his warriors as they sleep, and carry off their snow-white steeds. Next morning the battle is renewed, and the Greeks are very hard pressed. Achilles sends Patroclus to learn how they are faring, and Nestor begs him to persuade his master to come to the rescue. The Trojans charge the entrenchments, whilst an eagle drops a serpent in the midst of the combatants.

Hector makes the portent, saying, the best of omens is our countrys cause and the balance of the fight hangs even until he heaves a huge boulder, which bursts open the wooden gates of the Greek stockade, and as the Trojans rush in the Greeks flee in confusion to their ships. Neptune, however, in thq form of the soothsayer Calchas, rallies them, and Hectos advance is checked. But the Greek ships are still in danger of being burnt, and a proposal to launch them and escape during the night is with difficulty over-ruled. Hera now borrows from Venus her magic girdle, with which she diverts the attention of her husband, so that he may not help the Trojans, and Neptune leads the Greeks in person. Ajax meets Hector and hurls a stone against his breast, which disables him, and the Greeks rush to strip off his armour. The Trojan chiefs, however, shield him, and he is borne away to his chariot.

Zeus awakes in time to avert further danger from the Trojans, and, turning wrathfully on Hera, reminds her how he has punished her in former times, and explains his desire to teach the Greeks their utter helplessness without Achilles. For this purpose, Apollo is sent to revive Hector and accompany him back to the conflict. Flashing his shield in the faces of their adversaries, he clears a way for the Trojan chariots, The struggle is renewed, and, as Hector attacks the galley in which Ajax stands at bay with an enormous pike, Teucer plies his arrows, and twelve Trojans are slain in their attempts to set the Greek ships on fire. Achilles, who has been watching the peril of his countrymen, now consents that Patroclus shall go, clad in his armour, at the head of the Myrmidons, to aid them. The Trojans, believing it is Achilles himself who is leading, retreat in dismay, and Sarpedon, Jupiters son, is slain. But Patroclus ventures too far in pursuit Apollo meets and disarms him, Euphorbus stabs him from behind, and Hector drives his spear through his body.

With his dying breath he foretells the fate of his slayer, and the Greeks succeed in carrying off his body, Zeus casting a veil of darkness around it. The crisis of the story is now reached. Achilles is frantic with grief and rage at the death of his comrade, and eager to avenge him. His mother, Thetis, reminds him that when Hector falls his own last hour is near, but he replies, "Be it so, death comes in turn to all". He cannot, however, go forth without armour, and his mother promises that Vulcan shall forge him a suit by to-morrows dawn. Meanwhile, Iris bids him let the Trojans hear his voice, and, standing on the rampart, under the shield of Minerva, he shouts thrice aloud. They are seized with panic and abandon their pursuit of the Greeks, who bear off the corpse of Patroclus to Achilles tent. Vulcan is making velocipedes and automaton helpers when Thetis applies to him, but he willingly accedes to her request on behalf of her son.

The helmet and breast-plate and body gear are soon ready, but upon the shield he bestows his utmost skill, and the poets description of it is so graphic and elaborate that it will not bear condensing. Thus armed for the deadly fight, Achilles makes for the tent of Agamemnon, calling on the Greek leaders to make ready as he passes the galleys and he and the king, mutually admitting themselves to blame, are reconciled. Ulysses urges the need of a substantial meal for the army, from which Achilles sits apart, but is sustained by Minerva with ambrosia and nectar. When all is prepared for the battle he mounts his chariot, drawn by Xanthus and Balius, and bearing the ashen spear of Mount Pelion, the gift of the Centaur. Taunting his horses with the death of Patroclus, one of them, inspired by Juno, replies ift human voice, and tells him that his own doom draws nigh. Several of the gods and goddesses take part in this last conflict, some on the side of the Greeks, and some on the Trojan side.

The principal interest, however, is centred in the heroic deeds and narrow escapes of Achilles, who dashes through the Trojan host, hewing many in pieces, driving others into the river Scamander, and forcing the remainder to take refuge within their walls, Hector alone remaining outside the Scxan gate, which is guarded by Apollo. As Achilles draws near him, the Trojan heros courage wholly deserts him, and thrice he flies, with his adversary in pursuit. Then his guardian, Apollo, leaves him, and Minerva comes to the aid of her favourite. Hector now turns and challenges his foe, at the same time endeavouring to make a mutual agreement that the dead body of whoever of them is slain should be returned to his family, but Achilles rejects the proposal, and makes the first thrust. Hector rushes on him and falls mortally wounded by Achilles spear, beseeching that his father Priam may be allowed to ransom his corpse, and prophesying the death of his adversary when he obdurately refuses his prayer. Savagely, instead, Achilles fastens the body to his chariot, and drags it towards the Greek fleet, in sight of Priam and Andromache.

On reaching the ships he flings the corpse in the dust in front of Patrocluss bier and, whilst he sleeps after his exertions, the shade of his friend appears to chide him for leaving his body so long unburied. Next day the funeral pile is built, and the burial rites are celebrated, twelve captive Trojan youths being slaughtered by Achilles himself, and their bodies added to the flaming heap with the other libations. Then followed the funeral games, consisting of chariot races, boxing matches, wrestling, foot races, a single combat with shield and spear, archery, and hurling the spear. But the wrath and grief of Achilles are not yet appeased, and for twelve days he drags the body of Hector each morning three times round the tomb containing the ashes of Patroclus. At last Priam is led by Hermes to his tent, and the aged monarch, in an agony of supplication, succeeds in obtaining from him the corpse, which, after it has been washed and anointed, and clothed in costly raiment by Achilles orders, he carries back to Troy. The poem then concludes with a description of Hectors funeral rites, for the due celebration of which Achilles has spontaneously offered a twelve days truce .

Greek Mythology Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Achilles Achilles (a-KILL-eez) Achilles was the best fighter of the Greeks besieging Troy in the Trojan War. When the hero Odysseus journeyed to the Underworld to seek the advice of the dead prophet Teiresias, he encountered the shade of Achilles. This hero had slain the Trojan hero Hector in single combat and had himself been brought down only by the connivance of Apollo. The god guided the arrow of Hector's brother Paris to the only vulnerable spot on Achilles' body - his heel. Achilles would not have been vulnerable even in this part of his body had his mother, the sea-goddess Thetis, been allowed to protect him as she intended. When he was an infant, she rubbed him each day with godly ambrosia, and each night she laid him upon the hearth fire. Unfortunately, Achilles' father was unaware that this procedure would make his son immortal. And when he unexpectedly came home one night to find his wife holding their baby in the flames, he cried out in alarm. Thetis was offended and went home to her father, the Old Man of the Sea, leaving Achilles to his mortal fate.

Another version of the myth has Thetis attempting to protect her infant by dipping him in the river Styx. The infernal waters indeed rendered Achilles' skin impervious to the likes of any mere Trojan arrow. But Thetis forgot that she was holding him by the heel during the dipping process, so that part was unprotected. Tables Showing the Achilles Genealogy The Family of Achilles from Peleus and Thetis to Chaos Achilles is the son of the nymph Thetis and the mortal king Peleus . Achilles' ancestors are confusing: Part of this has to do with the fact that only one of his parents was a mortal. The immortals aren't many generations from the first generation ever in Greek genealogy. This makes Achilles' mother's side of the family tree lop-sided. Another factor is the recurrence of the same mythological figure repeatedly in the family tree. Zeus is one such repeat performer. He gets connected biologically with many of the major heroes. It would be hard to figure out what the best specific blood relationship Zeus bears to our hero Achilles because he is related in too many different ways. Tables 1 and 2 proceed in the normal way -- from ancestor to descendant, from Zeus etc.

to Achilles on his father Peleus' side [Table 1], and from Chaos to Achilles' mother Thetis [Table 2]. The other tables (3-6) show the ancestry of other figures in Achilles' family tree, but in the reverse direction. continue reading below our video 10 Best Universities in the United States Table 3 shows the ancestry of Grandma Chariclo (Achilles' father's mother) down to Oceanus et al. Table 4 shows the ancestry of Grandpa Sciron (Achilles' father's father) down to Zeus et al. Tables 5 (& 6) show the ancestry of Hippodamia (Achilles' great-great-grandmother) & Aegina down to Oceanus et al. The final table shows the ancestry of Zeus. Some ancestors are not restricted to a single generation. The 6 tables together cover just about everyone in the family from the beginning of the cosmos down to the time of Achilles. TABLE 1 Nereus THETIS - The Mother of Achilles In the family tree of Achilles, Zeus comes up several times.

One of the more famous mortal sons of Zeus was Tantalus -- the one who served up his own son Pelops at a feast for the gods. The goddess Demeter, who was mourning the loss of her daughter Persephone, was too distracted to notice the feast meal consisted of human flesh, so she ate the shoulder of Pelops before the gods could restore Pelops to life. After they did revivify Pelops, Demeter replaced the missing part with an ivory shoulder. For his crime, Tantalus was sentenced to eternal suffering in the Underworld. In the family tree of Achilles, Pelops appears as the parent of a son named Sciron [see TABLE 4]. This would make Sciron a brother of Atreus (as in the cursed House of Atreus ) and Thyestes. The Athenian hero Theseus later killed Sciron. TABLE 3 CHARICLO - Mother of Endeis (Mother of Peleus [Peleus is the father of Achilles]) Chariclo is a great-grandmother of Achilles. Aegina is the other great-grandmother of Achilles on his father's side. _

Question: Which Greek goddess was the mother of Achilles?
Answer: Thetis